


See You Be Brave

by yellow_ferrari



Category: Pentatonix RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Gen, The Sing-Off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 12:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1093737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellow_ferrari/pseuds/yellow_ferrari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five talented young Hogwarts graduates start an a capella group. They learn to be brave. Magic happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See You Be Brave

**Author's Note:**

  * For [croissantkatie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/croissantkatie/gifts).



> Features some swearing and a passage involving offensive slurs - they serve an educational purpose though, I swear ;-)  
> Yuletide gift for croissantkatie. Hope you enjoy. Happy Holidays :3

Scott has really dumb ideas sometimes. Like the time he tried to cheat on a History of Magic test because he hadn't at all studied and was ever so slightly hungover from a party the night before. His quill then proceeded to loudly screech at him, which made his hangover a whole lot worse and also got him into proper trouble with the Headmaster.  
Or the time he persuaded Kirstie to steal a broom and take it for a joyride off school grounds. That got them accidentally seen by Muggles and, again, into proper trouble with the Headmaster.  
Or how about that time, earlier this year, the night after their graduation from Hogwarts, when Scott got spectacularly drunk and hooked up with a cute slightly older guy at the Three Broomsticks, who turned out to be the Headmaster's son. Needless to say, Headmaster, trouble, you know the drill. That said though, Scott does not regret that night even one bit, the Headmaster's son is a great kisser. In fact, he does not regret any of these things.  
This time, though? This time he may have his dumbest idea yet. Or the best he's ever had.

"An aca what, now?", Mitch asks absentmindedly, while trying to get the self-charming coffee pot (useless house-warming present from his mother) to properly work and make coffee for Scott and Kirstie, who are lounging on the couch. Kirstie is huddled into one of Mitch's blankets emblazoned with the Slytherin crest. Green is not her color, Scott thinks.  
They're sitting in Mitch's new apartment, a small but cozy space he's started renting with his boyfriend Jasper last month. It's five o'clock in the afternoon on a chilly day in early November and Scott has just decided to regale his two best friends with his newest scheme of utter harebrained-ness. Or, you know, genius. Time will tell.

"An a cappella group. Singing, you know? It's like a band but without instruments. People make instrument sounds with their voices! There's a competition coming up. We could start our own group and take part. Think about it. It's an adventure!"

Kirstie is immediately on board. It has never been hard for Scott to get Kirstie to be on board for things. Anything, really. The crazier, the better. But especially adventures.  
They grew up together, all three of them, Kirstie, Mitch and Scott, in a small wizarding village off the coast and they've been the best of friends basically ever since they could talk.  
Kirstie doesn't even have to know the entire plan to be 795% on board. She's already off in fantasy land, trying to come up with band names and stage outfits by the time Mitch arrives from the kitchen with the coffee.

"So, it would just be the three of us in the band? Who would make the instruments? I can't do that. Can you do that? I don't know, Scott. I just don't know." 

Mitch worries. He is a worrier. If he's not careful he's gonna worry his life away. Scott loves him like a brother (hell, they _are_ brothers in every sense except the actually being family part), but boy does the kid worry. He's always careful never to show his worry though (to anyone but Scott, who can read his friends like an open book). A visibly nervous Slytherin would just not be very _en vogue_.

"Of course it's not just gonna be the three of us. We all know we can sing and we sound great together, but we definitely need some instrument people."

"Like who?" Mitch is immediately suspicious. Like he senses even the slightest possibility of someone intruding on his personal space. 

When they were teenagers, everyone around them was convinced that Scott and Mitch would end up together somehow. They were the only two gay boys in their year at Hogwarts, best friends since childhood. Of course people assumed. Scott wasn't even mad at that. But all those people didn't know what he knew. Scott loves Mitch, he does. But he also loves his freedom and casual sex and flirting with every cute guy he sees. He's not closing himself off to the possibility of ever meeting the man of his dreams that he's gonna want to settle down with. But definitely not any time soon. And definitely not Mitch. Not that he would want to be with Mitch in the first place, but even if he did, Mitch was off the market. Well and truly. And quite suddenly, too. But Scott knows true love when he sees it, so when Mitch introduced him and Kirstie to Jasper, it had been one of these moments where the sun shines from someone's eyes when they smile and lights up the room. And Mitch does not, as a rule, light anything else up much.  
Not that Scott hadn't been surprised that Mitch of all people had somehow acquired a Muggle boyfriend, but that's the way love goes, isn't it? But Mitch is a closet romantic and homebody and secretly started planning his wedding when he was 12. Plus Jasper is wonderful and delightfully enthusiastic about the wizarding community and everything it entails. When Scott looks at Mitch and Jasper being in love, sometimes, very occasionally, he thinks he gets this whole 'relationship' thing and why people do it. People, though. Not him.

At first Scott thinks he's gonna have a struggle on his hands convincing Mitch of this whole a cappella plan, but then he notices how Mitch has sneakily moved over closer to Kirstie on the couch to peek into her costume design notes. Heh. Performing is like a drug to Scott, but for Mitch? For Mitch being on stage, singing, that's almost like a religious experience. He doesn't do it a lot, not in public anyway, but whenever he does, he gets the sort of reaction out of people that would make politicians or religious leaders green with envy. Mitch's voice compels people. It's like magic. Without any _actual_ magic involved. At least not as far as Scott knows.

The flyer had been pink and glittery and there was a moving picture of a proper suave wizarding choir on it. Scott had basically been convinced to join whatever was on offer before he even saw what it was. Glitter always gets him.  
"Pan Wizarding World A Cappella Competition", it had said. In fact, it still does say that as Scott produces the flyer out of his bag and hands it over to a delighted Kirstie.  
It had been a sign, maybe, this flyer. Or that Scott had it handed to him on his way to a job he didn't enjoy, stuck in a rut he couldn't wait to get out of. They are recent Hogwarts graduates. Life should be a whole damn lot more interesting for them than this. He knows that Mitch and Kirstie aren't happy, either. Something has to give. And maybe this something is the Pan Wizarding World A Cappella Competition.

Scott knows who he wants to join the band, but he decides that he wants to hold open auditions anyway. Because you just never know, a genius could turn up. He's only sending special invitation owls to two people though. Scott has done his research and he knows they need vocal percussion people. Basses. People who can do beatboxing. All that stuff that sounds effortlessly cool when you hear it, but is so much hard work to actually master. The competition date is in early January. They don't have time to learn all this stuff themselves, they would need people who were _already_ good at it. 

"Which Kevin?", Mitch asks as Scott shares his picks with his friends.

"Silent type. Ravenclaw. Couple years above us."

No one shows any signs of recognition.

"He was in the choir with me. You know him, trust me. You know, the cellist."

" _Ahhhhhhhhhh....._ " Kirstie and Mitch break out into appreciative smiles in unison. The cellist. The hot cellist. Scott knew that would get their attention. Ah, the many times Scott has wondered if Kevin's fingers were as talented in other areas as they were with the bow. Alas, Kevin's strictly about the ladies, Scott's heard. Can't win 'em all. But a little fantasy has never hurt anyone, right? That might as well be on his family crest. Instead his family crest has something in Latin on it that Scott can never even quote right.

Neither of Scott's friends and hopefully future bandmates have heard of Avi, though, which does not surprise Scott in the slightest. Avi is a loner and has a bit of a reputation as aloof and weird, but Scott knows him and knows that he's a really decent guy who can do things with his bass voice and vocal percussion that have the power to make grown men faint. He would be perfect for an a cappella group.  
Mitch scoffs disdainfully when he finds out that Avi was a Hufflepuff – and the moving portrait of Draco Malfoy on Mitch's wall vigorously nods in agreement – but Kirstie kicks Mitch under the table. She was in the running to be Gryffindor Prefect once, ok, House Unity is a big deal to her. She did not end up actually becoming Prefect though, because her grades weren't good enough. Which is a scandal, as far as Scott is concerned.

Scott has no idea if this idea is gonna work. If the two people he wants to turn up at the audition will actually turn up. If they're gonna be any good at what they need to be good at. If the five of them will all gel together. He has no idea about any of this. But he has already convinced his two best friends in the whole wide world to join his band and if Kirstie and Mitch are on board, nothing can potentially go wrong. Well, not true. Everything can go wrong. Every single thing. But at least it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be an adventure. And when something is an adventure with friends, it can never be wrong.

..........................................

 

Kevin hadn't even been sure that he wanted to go to the audition in the first place. He had his life in order, you know? He had a nice entry-level job at the Ministry, a nice apartment, a nice relationship with his parents. His nice, normal, Muggle parents. Everything was _nice_.  
But that was also the problem, because who wants _nice_ in their 20s? You want exciting. Unpredictable. Dangerous. You want to make dumb decisions, make out with lots of girls, see the world.  
Kevin wasn't sure he was that kind of person, the one to live on the edge, to try new things. He had always been a rule-follower. Studious. Religious. A good boy.  
But he was never gonna find out if that's all there is to life if he didn't try. And he sure as hell wasn't gonna let an opportunity to do something potentially dumb, unpredictable and exciting pass. Not now. Not when it felt so _right_.

So when the owl came, inviting him to try out for this new a cappella group that his old friend Scott was putting together, he called his parents and canceled his dinner plans for the night. Sorry, mom and dad, there is something dumb I have to do.

Scott was an old choir buddy of Kevin's and Kevin liked him a lot. He was out there, flashy, loud. Well, a Gryffindor. But he had a good head on his shoulders and more musical talent in his pinkie than most people have in their entire body. Plus he was a natural leader and when it came to potentially dangerous things, Kevin didn't mind being lead at all.  
Hogwarts Choir had been such a blast for Kevin and so overwhelmingly good for him. He has the fondest memories of it. He had been an exceedingly shy kid, stuck in his own head and when his Head of House had suggested he'd try out for an after school club, Kevin had picked the choir. Because he liked music and he figured he'd stand somewhere in the back and sway a bit. But he ended up making genuine friends. And it lead to his cello playing being noticed by more people, which in turn lead to Kevin occasionally doing some performances at official Hogwarts events. His cello recitals were the only thing that had ever made his parents visit the school. They never stayed long, though.

When Kevin walks into the audition room, a dimly lit community center with flickering lights and some halfhearted tinsel hung on the walls, there's only maybe twelve people there. Kevin recognizes no one except Scott and that girl he always hangs around with. Kirsten? Kristine? The two of them and a third guy, a shorter guy with dark hair who screams Slytherin without Kevin ever having heard him say a word, sit behind a table in the far corner of the room. Everyone else is gathered on some mismatched chairs in a semi-circle, probably haphazardly assembled especially for this purpose. 

Some guy bumps into him. A big guy, dark-haired and bearded, with a good-natured, goofy smile on his face and a wooly beanie on his head. He apologizes for bumping into Kevin, saying 'sorry' in maybe the deepest speaking voice Kevin has ever heard. He likes him immediately.

"You here to audition?"

Kevin is tempted to make a snarky remark like yes, of course, what do you think I'm doing here, do I look like the janitor? But he refrains from doing this, because his sarcasm has a tendency to turn people off and he doesn't want to blow this unique opportunity to expand his horizons by letting his oh-so-shiny personality come out and ruin things. Besides, snark is just a defense mechanism against insecurities and Kevin's new deal is to try and not be insecure anymore. Not about singing and most definitely not about meeting new people. 

"Yeah. Kevin. Nice to meet you."

"Avi." They shake hands and get two seats next to each other near the front of the room. 

The whole thing is a bit of a wash. Of the people who had turned up, only a handful can actually sing. One girl is in the wrong room altogether. There's an older guy sleeping and snoring in the back row. Kevin and Avi exchange knowing little glances every time a new person auditions and totally bombs. It's not necessarily what you would call a professional affair. But for some reason this calms Kevin down quite a bit. If he fucks this up, it won't be such a big deal. If this all goes to hell, then a career in a cappella music was just not gonna be in Kevin's future. In retrospect he sometimes thinks that he only ever felt free to audition the way he did because there was no pressure. Thank God for that snoring guy in the back row.

He sings a classical piece for his actual singing audition and he thinks he does well. Not epically, but well enough. But it's when he does a bit of beatboxing that the trio behind the table suddenly look up in attention. Scott has a massive grin on his face. Encouraged, Kevin brings out some more vocal acrobatics. Mimics several instruments. Creates a band all by himself.  
Suddenly there's a beat. Kevin turns around and sees that Avi has stood up from his seat and is now making a low, thrumming sound with his mouth, like the beat of a drum 'n bass song, that blends effortlessly with Kevin's beatbox. It's pretty damn cool. They find a rhythm almost immediately. Kevin conjures up a hi-hat, cymbals, an approximation of an electric guitar. And just with his voice, too and not with actual magic.  
Avi goes along with everything. Offers up cool new ideas, improvises the hell out of everything they try. It's impressive. Kevin is enjoying himself more than he had ever expected. 

Then that girl Kirstie (because that's her name and Kevin is determined to remember, if it's the last thing he does) starts singing. A popular song from Muggle radio that Kevin vaguely knows. Something about Wrecking Balls. Her voice is beautiful. Clear, full-bodied and sexy. What she's singing fits into what Kevin and Avi are doing like a glove.  
Harmonies come in from somewhere. It's Scott and the other guy from the judges table, whose name, Kevin has learned, is Mitch. They're amazing singers, both of them, but Mitch's tone is something Kevin has never heard before. It's like there's an angel in the room. Kevin doesn't particularly believe in angels, at least not in the church-y sense (don't tell his parents!), but he does believe in people having an angelic presence about them. And Mitch when he sings is clearly one of those people.

This. Kevin can't even properly explain what is happening. This is amazing. They're making this song sound like it's being done by a full band. They sound like a band.  
Music has never come particularly easy to Kevin. Practicing for hours and hours every day to become even half-way proficient at the cello had been hard, hard work. But it had been challenging and stimulating and it appealed to his Ravenclaw sensibilities. There was a whole lot of work, but there was also a whole lot of reward.  
This, though? This doesn't even feel like work. This feels like fun. And yet suddenly there's this reward, coming seemingly out of nowhere. It's absolutely the most fun Kevin has ever had in his life while playing music.

The song comes to an end and it's followed by a moment of awkward silence. What now?  
Scott, Kirstie and Mitch share a meaningful look. 

"I think this audition is over", Scott says to the room at large. "Everyone, thanks for coming, but we've just found our band." Scott smiles a self-satisfied little smile that Kevin will only understand several months later, when Scott drunkenly confesses to him that he had invited Kevin and Avi to the audition specifically in the hopes that something like this would happen. But even he was surprised by how well it worked.

Kevin and Avi share an elated hug and go over to join the trio of people at the table. Their bandmates now, Kevin guesses. Five people. Five voices making a unique, super cool blend.

"It's like a pentatonic scale", Kevin whispers to himself. At least he thinks he whispers it to himself. But Avi hears him. 

"Pentatonix", he says. 

"What?"

"It's a pentatonic scale, but cooler. With an x. Because we're cool."

It's easily the dorkiest think Kevin has ever heard, but Avi smiles like he just came up with the most hilarious joke in all of time and space. Pentatonix. With an x. Kevin decides he likes it.  
This is the way. This is the way he's gonna break out of his cage. Do something new. Exciting. Dangerous. Kevin can honestly not even wait for the world-travelling and girl-kissing to begin. 

 

..........................................

 

Kirstie picks the song. She'd first heard it on Muggle radio a while ago, but at the time she was secretly convinced that the singer was a witch. Which is why she made Scott and Mitch come with her to a show the singer was doing in London. Her name was Sara Bareilles and at the end of her set she shot a Charm of fireworks into the air from her wand that had been hidden in her mic stand. It exploded in mid-air. Only about 20 people in the audience looked up – it was a Charm invisible to Muggles.

The song is called 'Brave' and Scott loves the choice immediately. Kirstie can't help but love him for that. She's always felt like the two of them shared a brain. Medically unsound theory, but magic can explain all sorts of crap, why not brain sharing? Someone should fund a research paper on this.  
It's a very Scott song. Which also makes it a very Kirstie song almost by default. Sometimes Kirstie thinks this brain thing, it eventually has to stop. At some point in the future she's gonna have to become a separate entity from Scott. But maybe not right this second.

Mitch takes some convincing. He is not overly enthused by the title of the song being a Gryffindor buzz word. But he comes around. Because he can relate to the lyrics. They all can.  
Kevin and Avi are being presented with a done deal in terms of song choice when they join the band, but they're on board. Avi calls it 'super rad'. The guy is weird. But in a good way. Kirstie is also weird, she can relate. She's only had bandmates for the better part of a week now, but she already feels very in tune with all of them. This is _so_ going places.

Kirstie had never thought she'd sing professionally. She's never even given much thought to what she'd do after school at all. For a while she thought she'd try Quidditch. But she only ever made it onto the team one year as an alternate Chaser, and just barely at that, so her dream of being the next Ginny Potter (Queen. Bow down.) had evaporated into thin air. Then she thought maybe she'd be an author. Children's books, maybe. Or comics. But she lacked patience. And a rudimentary understanding of grammar and spelling.  
Singing had always been something she enjoyed, though. Scott had been the one who wanted to join all the choirs and do all the performances and Kirstie had just tagged along. Because when she was little she just wasn't very good at making her own choices.  
But she was good at singing and eventually it just felt like something that was a part of her. Singing was something she felt deep in her soul. Something she didn't need brains for. Or motor skills. Or spelling. Singing was all instinct for her and no one else ever understood that. It was lyrics and words and soul.  
And this band, maybe this band could be her way to tap into that. Leave all her doubts behind and figure out her place in the world. As her own damn person. Maybe. 

_~ You can be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug ~_

They start off with just Kirstie singing the first verse, in her purest voice. Then the boys come in one after the other, making a wall of sound behind her. It's cool. It's different.  
Kirstie's been doing some research on how a cappella usually sounds and it's all regal and pristine and precious. That's not what this is. This is fresh and new and very _them_. It's not perfect yet, though. They try it a couple of times, a couple of different ways and after a while it gets frustrating, because it doesn't progress. Scott is about to throw a tempter tantrum, Kirstie can feel it in her very bones. They're all a little disenchanted now. Avi looks downright dejected. And he's been doing some proper amazing work. But it's not coming together. It's like they're missing something. Like they haven't yet internalized what the song actually means.

They decide to take a break for lunch – probably better for everyone's mental health - and when they get back, Kirstie has an idea. It's maybe a bit off the wall, but this whole band idea is off the wall. She's channeling Scott. This is a Scott-worthy idea.

_Bitch. Annoying. Scott's little sidekick. Up herself. Prude. Idiot._

Kirstie writes these words down on blank white cards with a black marker. One expression per card. Then she holds them up for everyone to see, before waving her wand and levitating them up to the wall, where they attach themselves.

It's everything she's been called. Words. It's what the song is about, isn't it? Being brave in the face of all the shit that's being spewed at you every goddamn day of your life. 

Avi is the first one who gets it. He grabs the pack of cards and starts writing.

_Weirdo. Sasquatch. Jew face. Loser. Spineless. Will amount to nothing._

It has an immediate effect. Scott looks up at Kirstie's cards, stops in front of 'Scott's little sidekick' and frowns. He looks at Kirstie with an expression that tells her that whoever said that to her better be making his last will and testament right this moment. She kinda loves him a lot right now.

_Girly. Freak. Try-hard. Bottom bitch. OMG Scott, stop talking. Show-off. Queer._

The atmosphere in the room changes. It's as if everyone can feel that something very special is happening. They're becoming something bigger than themselves. Man, this was an excellent plan. Kirstie is kinda really, really proud of herself right now. She never has excellent plans.

Kevin writes the N word on a card and everyone in the room audibly gasps. People are assholes, holy shit.

_Nerd. Bookworm. Teacher's pet. A B+ is just not good enough for a son of mine. Mudblood. The N word._

Mitch goes up to Scott's cards and puts a little +1 on about half of them with his marker. He does not smile. Then he adds his own.

_Hobbit. Michelle. I bet he has a pussy down there. Cold bitch. Arrogant. The F word (and not fuck, either)._

The wall takes shape. All of them go back eventually and add more words. And then there they all are. All the words. Words that have been said to them. The words that they need to take back. Reclaim. Pentatonix's wall of words.  
It's the most powerful moment Kirstie has ever experienced in her whole life. Chills run over her whole body, her spine, back, arms, neck. 

"Whoa."

"I know."

Kirstie isn't aware of the exact moment they start, but the tears come flowing. It's not even just sad tears. Even though she does feel sad. Her heart breaks for all the shit that's been said to her friends. And to herself. By people who don't even fucking know them at all. Know nothing about them.  
But they're also tears of relief. Of letting it all out. It's like the power these words have had over her for so many years is slowly fading away. Kirstie has never had much self-esteem, which is probably why she always let Scott take the lead. But Scott has his own issues and insecurities. So does Mitch. So does everyone. She's getting this now. It's breaking through to her in a way that is even more profound than she expected. These words can not harm her anymore. They can't harm any of them. Because they're just words. And Pentatonix are brave.

_~ Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down by the enemy ~_

The next time they perform the song, it has taken on a whole new meaning for all of them. It hits them all so hard that they collectively forget to breathe for a solid minute afterwards. 

..........................................

 

Avi has never really had that many friends. He doesn't have a whole lot of family left, either. That's just the way it's always been and it's never really been a problem. He shut himself off from the world by his own choice. It's always suited him fine. He can deal with being alone. Most days. 

It's not even snowing outside. That's a bit of a letdown. Shouldn't it be snowing? Avi settles on the couch in front of the television in his nice little Muggle-fied apartment, in which he tries to live as unobtrusive a life as possible, and arranges his take-out food on the little side table. There's a group of children singing Christmas carols on TV. And here Avi sits. Alone. Like every year. What good is having these supposed new friends from the band when they let you eat alone in front of the TV on Christmas Eve?  
I'm a kindhearted, bearded Jew as well, he thinks, why do people not sing hymns on _my_ birthday? Most House Points awarded for Services to General Kindness three years in a row, ok? Beat that, Jesus Christ.  
Then again, Jesus was a Hufflepuff and Avi really shouldn't be thinking ill of a brother in badger-ness. Badger-tude. But Christmas brings out the worst in him.  
Somewhere outside, a Muggle car alarm goes off, just as Avi cuts into his sweet and sour chicken. 

Suddenly, the door bell rings. Man. If this is carolers he'll just deal with them quickly by claiming his Jewishness obnoxiously right into their faces and then go back to his Chinese take-out.  
But it's not carolers. It's Pentatonix. Kirstie, Scott, Mitch and Kevin are all standing in front of Avi's door, holding various bottles of booze, tupperware containers full of food and wearing silly woolly hats with bobbles and massive grins on their faces. Chinese, shminese, Avi thinks. Screw this whole being alone business. He has something better to do. He has friends now.

Turns out, Pentatonix have rocked up in Avi's part of town not only to hang out with their friend on Christmas Eve and get tipsy, but also to cram in some last minute rehearsals. They're all gonna be going to see their families next week and won't be seeing much of each other until a few days before the competition date on January 3rd. Every single day is a precious commodity now.  
Avi never thought he'd become much of a perfectionist, he's always been more the easy-going type. But this band has made him invested. He's discovering ambitions he never thought even existed within him. Maybe it is time to stop trying to blend in with the background and explode out into the world. Or. Ok. Not explode. Walk out into the world in a calm and orderly fashion. It's not like he's suddenly turned into a Gryffindor or anything.

'Brave' sounds like a Pentatonix song now. It sounds like something they've been doing their whole lives. Avi really loves how it sounds, has loved the song since he's heard it the first time, when Kirstie played it for them. But when they did that thing with the wall of words – that was when the song became something else. An entity all of its own. Something that's alive and vibrant and lives within all five of them.  
It sounds good now, too. It sounds _great_. Avi thinks his neighbors, if they're even home, are in for a massive treat and if anyone complains, he's just gonna use one of those dizzying spells on them that he's really good at and leave them hella confused. He never felt like the most competent of wizards, barely making it through most of his Hogwarts classes, but confusing people, making them lose their way, that's always been something he was a real natural at. Huh. Wonder why.

After rehearsal they play a game of Fuck Marry Kill with heroes of the Wizarding War.  
Kirstie picks Potter, but mostly because she's a fan of his wife. 

"Well then why didn't you just pick his wife in the first place?"

"Because I've heard that Potter is great in bed."

They don't get to find out exactly _where_ Kirstie may have heard that, because Scott and Mitch loudly chime in with a chorus of good-natured 'ewwwws'.  
Scott picks Professor Longbottom, which Avi finds hilarious. But apparently Scott's crush on his Head of House and Professor of Herbology has been a long-standing in-joke between the trio, so Mitch and Kirstie just groan.  
Listen, Avi is not into dudes at all, but even he can appreciate the raw sexual appeal of the man who famously cut off Nagini's head. Avi thinks this is an inspired choice. Plus he really likes Professor Longbottom. So much so in fact that he once thought about a career in Herbology for himself. That didn't pan out though. Not a lot in Avi's life ever pans out.  
Kevin picks Luna Lovegood. Mitch picks Daco Malfoy (-"Does not count!" -"Does _so_ count!"), and gets a dreamy look in his eyes. Mitch is so Slytherin down to his core. Avi used to be intimidated by this, but now that he's got to know him better he realizes it's really not any different to being Hufflepuff down to his core. Which is what Avi is. Two sides of the same coin, really. Being in a band with all these guys from different Houses is expanding Avi's mind in curious ways.  
Avi knows who he's gonna pick in Fuck Marry Kill the moment the idea for the game even comes up. He once took a rusty old broom in a storm for a four-hour trip just to see her give a talk on House Elf Rights. She. Is. It. Hermione Granger-Weasley is the woman of dreams. Not just Avi's dreams, he feels. She should be the woman of everyone's dreams. 

Kirstie gives him a high-five for his 'epic' choice and launches into a story about how she once gave a presentation on Granger in History of Magic and a record-breaking number of students stayed awake for the whole hour!

These people are great. They're weird. But that's amazing. Avi had always thought he was the only weird person he knew. That he was somehow different. An outsider even in a world of magic, which was a place outside of society already. But these kids were all weird. Different. Outsiders. And now they had all found each other and could be outsiders together. They even had the power to form a new inside. A place where these five people could always come to and always find a home. And for a guy with no family, no friends, no home to speak of, this was something Avi never thought could happen. And maybe that is the way in which _he_ is brave. Like from the song. His bravery is opening himself up to these people and letting them be weird together. If Sara Bareilles could see them now, he thinks, she would be super proud of what they've turned this song into. Maybe they can make a video and send it to her. Maybe Mitch's boyfriend Jasper could make a video. It's what he does. Make videos. Or something. It's a Muggle thing.

Avi realizes that his mind has wandered and he snaps back to reality just as one of his new friends starts telling another hilarious story about Hogwarts shenanigans. Yeah. It's not so bad having friends for the first time. Especially not on Christmas Eve. 

And then it starts to snow. Because sometimes, very very occasionally, life is like that.

..........................................

 

Ever since he was maybe 7 years old, Mitch had known that he'd be a singer. Not that he _wanted_ to be a singer, but that he _would_ be. There was never any doubt.  
Scott and Kirstie would enter singing competitions, join choirs, play little shows in the village square. Mitch had never bothered with all of that. When he sang, people listened. He could make a whole room fall silent in an instant just by singing a handful of notes. And this was not his magic manifesting early. This was a talent. A gift.  
Mitch is not a sharer by nature, when he gets gifts he usually likes to keep them to himself. But this one? This one gives him power. Control.

When Mitch was 11 years old and a tattered old hat was placed upon his head, this is what he was thinking about. His voice and the power it wields. He had seen himself on a stage, singing to hundreds of people. They were awestruck with rapturous attention.  
The hat hadn't even fully reached Mitch's head when it yelled out "Slytherin!"

Now he's standing backstage at the Pan Wizarding World A Cappella Competition and his heart rate is probably higher than it's ever been in his life. He's nervous. Mitch is not nervous a lot. Sure, he worries. He is fussy and annoying about little things. But he's never downright terrified. This is also what their song means, isn't it? The song they've been rehearsing for months. The song they have all adopted as the unofficial motto of Pentatonix. I just wanna see you be brave. 

Mitch can count the number of times he's been brave in his life on one hand. Sure, telling his strict (loving and wonderful, but strict) parents that he likes boys when he was 14. That had been a brave moment. Telling Scott and Kirstie the same thing, later that same year. Standing up to younger kids when his fellow senior Slytherins would bully them. Ok, yeah. That was brave. Especially because it meant he was in the dog house with his Snake friends for a while. But bullying, man. Bullying is not cool. And Mitch doesn't even care if you come from a long line of prestigious Slytherins, none of that gives you the right to bully someone. And as someone who comes from a long line of prestigious Slytherins himself, he feels very strongly about this particular issue. Being a Slytherin is one thing. Being mean is quite another. Mitch has never felt that these two things go hand in hand as naturally as some of his old school friends would have you believe.

Pentatonix are all nervous. Kirstie bites her nails, something she hasn't done since she was a kid. Kevin paces up and down, faster and faster, becoming a slight blur in the process. Avi is going borderline catatonic on a chair in the corner. Scott is nowhere to be seen, probably puking his guts out in the bathroom. 

Mitch feels like this situation calls for someone to be brave. Someone to step up and say, hey, we're great. We're amazing. No reason to be nervous. We got this.

Unfortunately, no such person appears. So in lieu of an actual hero showing up, Mitch bites the bullet and decides to do it himself. He clears his throat.

Everyone looks up at him. Even Scott, who had just walked back in, looking pale as a sheet.

"Friends. Brothers and sisters. Pentatonix."

He starts off grandly. Because this better become an inspirational speech like from one of those Muggle sports movies that Kevin always makes them all watch. 

"Today is the day we've been waiting for. We've worked for this. We've worked hard for this. All of us gave up a lot. Time. Effort. Blood, sweat and tears. It took a lot out of us. But here we are. And we are stronger now. Better. We. Are. Good."

He punctuates every word for emphasis.

"This song, you guys. This song has given us so much. It's turned us from five separate people, some of us strangers, into a five-piece band. A five-piece weapon of musical destruction. A five-piece family. We are so good. We are amazing. I believe in us. I believe in all of us, individually and together. I believe in Pentatonix."

He could be imagining this, but Mitch thinks he sees Kirstie wipe a tear from her eye. Fucking nailed it. He thinks it probably helped that he believed every single damn thing he just said with all his heart.

The disembodied voice of the event moderator, a perky witch of mid-level celebrity, echoes around the backstage area. "All performers to the stage, please."

Pentatonix make their way on stage. It's already super crowded. Groups of all shapes, sizes and ages are gathered here. Mitch feels a weird kind of kinship with them all, even though he's never met a single one of them, let alone heard them perform. A rumor starts somewhere that they're about to meet the judges before the audience is let in and the competition officially starts. No one knows who the judges are, they hadn't been announced in advance. 

Mitch takes a good, long look around. The stage they're standing on looks out into a massive theater. It's one of those grand old places you always see in movies. He's never been inside a place like this before. Kevin probably has, going to see an orchestra perform. Or whatever it is Kevin does for fun. Scott's probably been in a place like this too, come to think of it. He's been in choirs all his life and when he was younger he was always off on trips to perform in one choir competition or the other.  
But for Mitch this is all new. And it amazes the smugness right out of him. He had just calmed himself down enough to not be nervous anymore about the performance, but now it's all coming back up.

There's a ruckus starting on the far side of the stage. A murmur goes through the crowd. Suddenly there's a purple cloud, slowly descending from the ceiling. It loudly pops three times. The three judges of the Pan Wizarding World A Cappella Competition appear out of thin air. It's probably simple Apparition, but the cloud is a nice effect. Mitch gives them props for theatricality. 

The first judge is called Ben Folds. Mitch has no idea who he is, but Avi nudges him in the side, indicating that he's quite excited. He's a dorky looking guy in an ugly Christmas sweater and glasses, somehow Mitch is not surprised that Avi is a fan.  
The second judge is Shawn Stockman, a member of a pretty famous vocal band that even Mitch has heard of. He's listened to them quite a lot in preparation for this competition.  
The third judge is a woman. When the smoke of the purple cloud clears, she takes the shape of Sara Bareilles. All of Pentatonix turn and look at each other. Kirstie audibly 'eeek's. She's here. In about an hour, she's gonna listen to Pentatonix sing her song and judge them on it. Mitch can't decide whether that's the best or the worst development that this evening could have possibly taken. 

_~ You can be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug ~_

They nail it. It's not good. Or great. Or even amazing. It's mind-blowing. Fantastic. Magical. The whole theater erupts into the biggest cheers that Mitch has ever heard in his life. The judges are up on their feet. Sara Bareilles is crying.  
Scott starts a group hug and everything, all the tension, all the pressure, all the nervousness, all of it falls off of Mitch's shoulders. It's done. It is the best moment of his life.

They win. Of course they win. There was never any doubt in Mitch's mind. Pentatonix win the Pan Wizarding World A Cappella Competition. The prize is a whole lot of money and a recording contract. But that isn't even important. At least not right now. Sara Bareilles loved what they did with her song. The audience loved it. But most importantly, Pentatonix loved it. They were just five Hogwarts graduates floating aimlessly through life. Now they're Pentatonix. They're a band. They're a family.  
Mitch is not usually one for pathos, except in that way where he tries to emulate sports movies to elicit an emotional response from his listeners. But he feels a wave of pathos coming up now. 

There's confetti rain. There's a trophy. None of that registers with Mitch until much later. All he sees now is his four best friends in the whole wide world, hugging and cheering and laughing and being generally happier than they've ever been in their lives. Mitch gets swept up in it and realizes with a start that maybe he's happy too. Maybe he's the happiest he's ever been in his life, too. Maybe now he can stop worrying so much. Or, you know? Maybe not that. The worrying is quite dear to him. But it's a start.  
He's a singer, right? That's what he is. And now it's his career. Now he has a career and a band. And it's going to be amazing.

They make an album. It becomes a big hit, in the wizarding world and in the Muggle world alike. They go on a world tour. Kevin is really, really excited about that, more excited than anyone else, because for some reason he believes this world tour will lead to the kissing of a lot of girls.  
Jasper becomes their Muggle relations manager. Mitch's boyfriend has taken to the whole idea of Pentatonix like a duck to water. He records backstage videos and puts them online. He sells merch. He organizes fan meet-ups. Mitch realizes that the members of the band maybe weren't the only people who were lost, who needed a purpose in life. It really goes much further than that. Warmth spreads through his entire body.

Kirstie has a new boyfriend as well, a guy she met at the competition. His group came in 17th, but Kirstie was never really that much into maths and numbers anyway, so she really doesn't mind.  
Scott never really dates anyone. But being a massive global superstar gets him a whole bunch of really exciting sex.  
Kevin plans to wait until marriage for sex. Not for religious reasons or anything, but just because he wants to. There's a lot of girl-kissing though.  
Avi meets Hermione Granger-Weasley once and faints. It's probably the highlight of his life. 

"I have really dumb ideas sometimes", a slightly drunk Scott tells Mitch at their own private little victory party at the Three Broomsticks later that night.  
"But this was one of my better ones."

"Yeah." The way things come together is really, really crazy sometimes and once in a lifetime all it takes is a dumb idea to ignite a spark and light something magical. Something brave. "Probably the best you've ever had."


End file.
